1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor light-emitting element and the manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL, hereafter simply referred to as a surface emitting laser) element and the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Related Art
A conventional surface emitting laser element is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,916,672 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,750,071, and has an active layer having quantum well structure with a p-side ring electrode on a p+ type contact layer that is provided via a p-type spacer layer that is between the p+ contact layer and active layer, and a dielectric layer for adjusting the phase is provided in the opening of the p-side ring electrode.
In a semiconductor light-emitting element that is constructed having an active layer and two electrodes that inject electric current into the active layer, where one of the two electrodes is provided on the semiconductor layer with an opening being provided in that electrode for letting light pass from the active layer, and a dielectric layer is provided in that opening, there is a problem in that in the end section on the side of the electrode opening, at least one of the component materials of the electrode diffuses into the semiconductor layer and reacts with the semiconductor layer, and as a result, deformation occurs in the semiconductor layer near the boundary surface between the semiconductor layer and the electrode.